Department of Health and Social Care

NHS: Vacancies

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the reasons for the trends in the vacancy rate in the NHS in the period between June 2021 and June 2022.

Will Quince: The vacancy rate for all staff in National Health Service provider trusts had increased from 7.6% in June 2021 to 9.7% in June 2022. The number of vacancies is the difference between the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) permanent or fixed-term staff in post and planned workforce levels. Whilst in the period June 2021 to June 2022 the number of FTE staff working in NHS provider trusts had increased by 27,991, 2.4%, trust planned workforce levels had increased more quickly.Every April NHS providers reassess their staffing requirements, often leading to increases in planned workforce levels in response to anticipated activity, such as increased elective activity, or to make additional provisions to deal with ad-hoc capacity peaks. For many trusts, this process was disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, increases in vacancy rates between June 2021 and June 2022, will have been more significant, in part, due the removal of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and as such it is more appropriate to compare current levels to the pre-pandemic level of vacancies, which in June 2019 was 9.2%.

Palantir: Contracts

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 26 January 2023 to Question 129798 on Palantir: Contracts, how much was paid to Palentir for its Foundry platform in each of the years it was providing this service; and whether her Department plans to use this platform after June 2023.

Will Quince: Contract spend for the provision of Foundry core platform services to National Health Service organisations was £23.5 million from 12 December 2020 to 11 December 2022, and £11.5 million from December 2022 to June 2023.NHS England is in the process of re-procuring the COVID-19 Data Platform, which is hosted on Foundry, and has recently launched an open tender for a Federated Data Platform and Associated Services. It is anticipated that a contract will be awarded to the successful supplier in Autumn 2023.NHS England is undertaking a fair, open and transparent procurement process to re-procure this service. It is inevitable that some form of transition will be required regardless of the successful supplier and as such, it is likely that NHS England will be required to continue to contract with the incumbent supplier to manage this transition.

Health Services

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans that the sections of the Health and Care Act which establish the new NHS Provider Selection Regime will come into force through further regulations.

Will Quince: The Department and NHS England are working to establish the Provider Selection Regime. We will provide an update for when the relevant sections of the Health and Care Act will be commenced, and regulations laid before Parliament, in due course. The regulations which will set out the Provider Selection Regime will be subject to parliamentary scrutiny through the affirmative process before they can come into force.

Public Health: Finance

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of trends in level of funding for public health grants on a real-terms basis for each financial year since 2015-16; and if he will make a statement.

Neil O'Brien: The following table shows the local authority public health grant allocations for each year since 2015/16. The targeted departmental public health funding is allocated to local authorities for drug treatment, the Start for Life programme, weight management services and human immunodeficiency virus pre-exposure prophylaxis.The 2021 Spending Review confirmed that the public health grant to local authorities would increase over the settlement period. In 2022/23, the grant increased by 2.81% to £3.417 billion. This is in addition to targeted investment through local Government in Start for Life support and drug and alcohol treatment services.YearReal terms allocation (2021/22 prices)2015/16£3.471 million2016/17£3.794 million2017/18£3.640 million2018/19£3.484 million2019/20£3.306 million2020/21£3.255 million2021/22£3.324 million2022/23£3.259 million Notes:2015/16 allocation includes part-year funding for 0-5s public health services, which transferred from the National Health Service to local government from 1 October 2015, and the impact of a £200 million in-year reduction in the grant initially allocated.Figures from 2017/18 include funding retained by 10 Greater Manchester local authorities as part of a business rate pilot, not allocated via a grant.Figures include public health grant allocations, along with targeted departmental funding allocated to local authorities for drug treatment, Family Hubs and the Start for Life programme, obesity funding to support adult and children weight management services, and HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis.

Mortality Rates

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to data published by the Office for National Statistics, entitled Excess deaths in England and Wales: March 2020 to December 2021, published 22 March 2022, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of that data.

Neil O'Brien: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) Excess deaths in England and Wales: March 2020 to December 2021 report is produced to the high professional standards set out in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. ONS are a trusted supplier of Official Statistics and the content of this analysis can be regarded as adequate.There are a range of organisations producing different estimates of excess deaths based on different methodologies. Other sources include the ONS ‘Deaths registered weekly in England and Wales, provisional’ report, which is available at the following link:https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsregisteredweeklyinenglandandwalesprovisional/latestThe ONS ‘Monthly mortality analysis, England and Wales’ is available at the following link:https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/monthlymortalityanalysisenglandandwalesThe Office for Health Improvement and Disparities ‘Excess mortality in England and English regions’ reports are available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/excess-mortality-in-england-and-english-regions

Diseases: Health Services

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans for the proposed Major Conditions and Disease Strategy to replace existing disease and condition-specific strategies.

Helen Whately: The Strategy’s focus is on tackling conditions that contribute most to morbidity and mortality across the population in England including cancers, cardiovascular disease, including stroke and diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, dementia, mental ill health and musculoskeletal conditions.In addition to the strategy, the Department will continue work to improve the treatment and care people receive for all other conditions through work such as the ME/CFS Delivery Plan, the Women’s Health Strategy and the Acquired Brain Injury strategy.

Public Health: Preventive Medicine

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what role preventative public health policies will play in the context of the implementation of the Government's Major Disease and Conditions Strategy.

Helen Whately: The Major Conditions Strategy will apply a geographical lens to each condition in order to address regional disparities in health outcomes, supporting the levelling up mission to narrow the gap by 2030.The Strategy will cover prevention to treatment for all six conditions and we will continue to work closely with stakeholders, citizens and the National Health Service in coming weeks to identify actions that will have the most impact.

Community Nurses

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the number of district nurses.

Helen Whately: District Nurses work within Community Health Services. It is the responsibility of integrated care boards to commission Community Health Services to reflect local needs. The Government is committed to supporting and retaining the current workforce and training new District Nurses.The government is on track to deliver on its target of 50,000 additional full-time equivalent nurses by March 2024, through improved retention and investment in a diversified training pipeline and ethical international recruitment. Nursing numbers are over 38,000 higher as of November 2022 than when the commitment was made in September 2019.

Integrated Care Systems

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help integrated care systems to harmonise their procedures.

Helen Whately: The Department is not taking steps to directly influence how integrated care systems (ICSs) manage their internal procedures. Instead, we recognise that ICSs require the right level of autonomy to develop strong relationships and common culture which will progress healthcare planning and delivery in their communities.The structures put in place by the Health and Care Act 2022 help ICSs make these changes more easily. For example, the common duty across ICSs and NHS Providers to have regard to wider effect of decisions (the ‘Triple Aim’) intends to further support the shift towards integrated local health and care systems which have strong engagement with their communities.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Football: Finance

Carla Lockhart: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which football clubs have benefited from the Multi-Sports Grassroots Facilities Investment Fund from the Irish Football Association and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), and how much each successful applicant has secured.

Stuart Andrew: In 2021/22, the Irish Football Association invested £700,000 of DCMS funding via the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme. This went towards 26 projects across Northern Ireland, selected for their ability to drive increased participation, with a particular focus on improved facilities in deprived areas, supporting multi-sport use and facilitating use by currently under-represented groups. These are shown in the following table, as published on gov.uk on 25 March 2022.RecipientLocal authorityFunding grantedBallyvea Football Club LtdNewry, Mourne and Down£30,000.00Dungiven Celtic Youth Football ClubDerry City and Strabane£28,554.00Newcastle Football ClubNewry, Mourne and Down£30,000.00Greenisland Football ClubMid and East Antrim£30,000.00Abbey Villa Football ClubArds and North Down£25,000.00Comber Rec FCArds and North Down£29,978.00NFC KeshFermanagh and Omagh£29,904.00Belfast Celtic CICBelfast City£25,936.00Fivemiletown United Football ClubMid Ulster£27,950.00Craigavon City Football ClubArmagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon£21,840.00Shorts Football ClubBelfast City£29,250.00Enniskillen Rangers Football ClubFermanagh and Omagh£20,486.28Beragh Swifts Community GroupFermanagh and Omagh£28,296.00Crewe United FCLisburn and Castlereagh£30,000.00Dromore Amateurs Football ClubArmagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon£30,000.00Lisburn Rangers Football ClubLisburn and Castlereagh£29,375.00Dromara Village Football ClubLisburn and Castlereagh£19,270.00Rathfriland Football ClubNewry, Mourne and Down£30,000.00Caledon Rovers Football ClubMid Ulster£17,527.00Oxford Sunnyside FCArmagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon£30,000.00Mountjoy United Football ClubFermanagh and Omagh£25,016.53Crumlin United Football ClubAntrim and Newtownabbey£24,150.00Kilmore Rec. FCNewry, Mourne and Down£29,595.00Saintfield United Football ClubNewry, Mourne and Down£30,000.00Orangefield Old Boys Football ClubBelfast City£29,768.00Ardstraw Football ClubDerry City and Strabane£18,100.00Projects receiving funding in 2022/23 under the programme will be confirmed in due course.

Department for Work and Pensions

Paralympic Games: Visits Abroad

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the answer of 17 January to Question 119039on Paralympic Games: Visits Abroad, whether the hospitality provided by the British Paralympic Association included the costs of the accommodation used by his predecessor and the individual accompanying her during their visit to Tokyo between 23-26 August 2021.

Mims Davies: At the time of the event (24 August to 26 August 2021), accommodation for the Secretary of State and the official accompanying her was paid for by the British Paralympic Association. The Department was later invoiced (14 March 2022), and paid £1557.80 for two rooms.

Ministry of Defence

Defence Equipment: Procurement

Mr Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Statement of 16 January 2023 on Ukraine: Update, Official Report columns 35 to 37, whether he plans to declare any of the systems intended for the British Army mentioned in the Statement as Urgent Operational Requirements.

Alex Chalk: Urgent Operational Requirements are now referred to as 'Urgent Capability Requirements.'There are currently no plans to declare any of the systems intended for the Army as Urgent Capability Requirements, however we are looking to accelerate delivery where appropriate.

Home Office

Passports: Applications

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what was the average length of time taken by her Department to process a passport application in (a) 2021 and (b) 2022.

Robert Jenrick: In 2021, His Majesty’s Passport Office printed fewer than 5 million passports, compared to almost 8.4 million in 2022.For standard UK and International applications, the median turnaround time for passport applications to be processed for each year in 2021 and 2022 is shown in the table below:YearAverage Processing Time20216 days*202216 days** *data is held in working days working days  **data is held in calendar daysIn January 2023, 99.4% of passports issued under the standard UK service were processed within the published guidance of 10 weeks.

Refugees: Afghanistan

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has taken recent steps to help support the reunification of families through the Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme.

Robert Jenrick: The government remains committed to providing protection for vulnerable and at-risk people fleeing Afghanistan. The situation is very complex and presents significant challenges, including how those who are eligible for resettlement in the UK can leave the country. This includes the eligible family members of those being resettled under the ACRS. For those evacuated from Afghanistan under the ACRS without their immediate family members, further information will be made available in due course about options for reuniting with them.In line with our existing policy, those resettled under the ACRS may be able to be accompanied by their immediate family members - that is their spouse or partner, and dependent children under 18.Those referred by UNHCR under the ACRS will have refugee status and will therefore be able to access the refugee family reunion route.Those without refugee status wishing to bring family members would need to apply through the regular family visa route under Appendix FM of the Immigration Rules.Whilst the UK has made a generous resettlement commitment, we must bear in mind the capacity of the UK to resettle people is not unlimited and therefore difficult decisions about who will be prioritised for resettlement have to be made.

National Age Assessment Board: Pilot Schemes

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether learning from National Age Assessment Board pilots will be shared with key stakeholders.

Robert Jenrick: As a precursor to the NAAB the Home Office has been offering an age assessment facility to local authorities to boost capacity, build experience and establish working relationships and processes in time for NAAB launch. Local authorities and other key stakeholders are engaged in this process and key findings will be built into the development of the formal NAAB processes.

Asylum: Hove

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 31 January to Question 132555 on Asylum: Hove, how many hours notice were given to the local authority prior to unaccompanied asylum-seeking children moving into the site.

Robert Jenrick: The rise in the number of small boat crossings has placed significant pressures on local authority care placements for young people.The safety and welfare of those in our care, including unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, is our primary concern and the Home Office has robust safeguarding procedures in place to ensure those in our accommodation are as safe and supported as possible as we seek urgent placements with a local authority.The National Transfer Scheme (NTS) transferred 3,148 children to local authorities with children’s services between 1 July 2021 and 30 September 2022. This compares to 739 children transferred in the same time frame in the previous year. From 16 December 2022 we are also providing local authorities with children’s services £15,000 for every eligible young person they take into their care by the end of February 2023.  This is in addition to the funding local authorities already receive for supporting unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.

Members: Correspondence

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what date the longest outstanding MP enquiry to her Department was received.

Robert Jenrick: The longest outstanding enquiry was received on 24 February 2022.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Technology: New Businesses

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to help increase the growth of regional technology (a) start-ups and (b) scale-ups.

Paul Scully: We are proud that the UK’s start up and scale up tech ecosystem was recently valued at over £1 trillion and that the UK is only the third country in the world to have a tech sector reach this valuation. We are committed to ensuring the benefits and growth of the tech sector are felt in all corners of the country.We are supporting businesses across the UK through investment. The £12 million Digital Growth Grant will continue to support companies across the UK to access finance and business advice through tailored growth programmes and events. In addition, the £2.6 billion UKSPF fund encourages areas across the UK to consider interventions to support and grow their local tech ecosystems.Tailored support and localised interventions will be important to successful economic growth across the regions. We published a Regional Tech Ecosystems report, which identified several regions as digital and tech growth hubs across the UK and aims to better understand the drivers of growth at a local level.Government engagement with the tech community is one of the key levers used to understand the needs of the sector, whilst also promoting the sector's success. Ministers engage frequently with the sector through roundtable discussions and bilaterals to better understand the challenges and opportunities facing growth, such as those conducted whilst developing our Digital Strategy. From a promotional perspective, Ministers often proactively engage with regional tech events, such as Birmingham Tech Week, and utilise the Department’s convening power to highlight the importance of regional investment. The department’s communication strategies further champion the regional ecosystems through promotion of regional success stories to a national and international audience.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Recruitment

Christine Jardine: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much his Department spent on recruitment consultants in each of the last three years.

Julia Lopez: The Department publishes details of consultancy and professional services spending on an annual basis, in the Annual Report and Accounts. Due to the categorisation of spend within Department systems, it is not possible to extrapolate consultancy spend specifically in relation to recruitment activity. However, a total of £233,056.01 (excluding VAT) has been identified as spend on external recruitment consultants within the last three years, broken down as follows:Financial YearSpend (Ex VAT)2020/2021£116,358.672021/2022£61,824.442022/2023 (to 31 January 2023)£54,872.90Total£233,056.01 This spending relates to external consultancy support, engaged by the Department, for the recruitment of substantive Civil Servants at delegated grades, Senior Civil Servants and Board Members, and excludes the recruitment and delivery of Apprenticeship schemes, and contingent labour workers.